The Most Mysterious Shipwrecks In History

The only thing cooler than a shipwreck is a much, much older shipwreck — and when there's a mystery hidden in its hold, well, that's even better.

The Antikythera shipwreck is more than 2,000 years old — it was discovered in the Mediterranean by sponge divers in 1901. Since then, archaelogists have recovered a ridiculously huge collection of artifacts from the wreckage, including jars, sculptures, jewelry, and the seriously bizarre "Antikythera mechanism," which is a mysterious steampunk-clockwork device used to track time and celestial objects.

Sometimes called "The World's First Computer," the mechanism today kind of just looks like a twisted blob of corroded metal, but in its prime it had thousands of interlocking teeth, 30 bronze gears, and a hand crank that made it come to life. It kept track of three different calendars, it noted the approach of the Olympic games, and it could also mimic the travels of each planet and the Moon. The technology used to build the Antikythera mechanism predates similar technology by at least 1,400 years. X-ray analysis has allowed archaeologists to look through the layers of corrosion to its 3,500-word inscription, which basically confirms the device's purpose as a teaching tool and status symbol.

According to the Washington Post, archaeologists have also recently discovered human bones in the Antikythera wreck, which means we may be closer to understanding where the ship came from and who its passengers were.

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